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IRVINE, Calif. – Real Salt Lake arrived in Irvine, Calif. on Thursday for the start of the team’s second preseason camp. We’re now only four-and-a-half weeks away from the start of the 2013 MLS regular season.

Irvine schedule

Head Coach Jason Kreis will put the Claret-and-Cobalt through its first training session of the week on Thursday evening, directing the squad through what’s expected to be a light practice that will begin at 6:00 p.m. MT.

The Claret-and-Cobalt will train a total of eight times in Southern California – down two from the 10 practices held in Casa Grande, Ariz. last week. RSL will also play friendlies on Feb. 4 against UC-Irvine and on Feb. 8 against the L.A. Galaxy. The team had just one friendly in Casa Grande, losing 0-2 to the Danish U-20 national team on Monday, Jan. 28.

Roster update

RSL made a couple of changes to the roster that trained in Casa Grande, sending forward Peri Marosevic, goalkeeper Andrew Weber and defender Max Wasserman home and bringing in defender Justin Davis on trial. RSL took Davis in the second round of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft but did not offer him a contract. The University of New Mexico product played the last two seasons with the Minnesota Stars in NASL.

Most of the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy players who trained with the first team last week remained in Casa Grande, with forward Benji Lopez the lone academy player set to train with the Claret-and-Cobalt in Irvine.

Plata set to train

New RSL forward Joao Plata will train with the Claret-and-Cobalt for the first time on Thursday. Plata was traded to RSL from Toronto in exchange for a second round pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft on Wednesday.

The latest issue of ESPN The Magazine hit news stands this week, with Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando featured prominently in a photo spread.

Rimando appeared in in a shoot for "The Perfect Issue," taking ESPN Mag writer Doug McIntyre through the process of making a diving save as a smaller - Rimando's just 5-foot-9 - 'keeper. The spread - part of a series called "So Crazy, It Just Might Work - can be seen by clicking here.

Rimando and the rest of Real Salt Lake squad will head to Southern California on Thursday for the team's second leg of preseason. The Claret-and-Cobalt will train at the University of California-Irvine from Jan. 31-Feb. 8, playing UC-Irvine in a friendly on Feb. 4 and taking on the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center on Feb. 8.

The diminuitive Plata, who had 10 goals and nine assists in 52 career games across all competitions with TFC, will bring a bit of a different element to the RSL attack, with his pace and trickery sure to give opposing defenders fits in 2013. Plata was awarded the 2011 George Gross Memorial Trophy after being named the 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship MVP.

Plata featured three times for Toronto against RSL, playing the first half in RSL's 3-1 home win over TFC on June 25, 2011, going the full 90 - and scoring the winning goal, see video above - in the Reds' 1-0 win over RSL on Aug. 13, 2011 and coming off the bench for 22 minutes in RSL's 3-2 home win against Toronto on April 28 of last year.

The USMNT will play its first match of 2013 on Tuesday night, when it will take on Canada at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston (7 p.m. MT, ESPN2).

Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman and Tony Beltran are both on the U.S. roster for the match, and several outlets are predicting that both Claret-and-Cobalt players will be in manager Jurgen Klinsmann’s starting lineup.

While Beckerman is getting more publicity, Tuesday’s game is undeniably bigger for Beltran. Unlike Beckerman, who has 23 senior national team caps, Beltran has never appeared for the USMNT and will be looking for his first cap on Tuesday. A good performance against Canada could also net Beltran a spot on the roster for the U.S. Hexagonal opener at Honduras on Feb. 6, a roster that Beckerman is likely to make regardless of how he performs in Houston.

Beckerman and Beltran are both expected to return to RSL for the team’s third and final preseason leg at the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup from Feb. 11-24.

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – There were a few great quotes and notes that didn’t quite make the final cut of the written and video features about the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy that we published on Monday morning.

Here are a few of those quotes and anecdotes:

Real Salt Lake General Manager Garth Lagerwey:

On what RSL wants to get out of the RSL-AZ Academy, beyond simply developing professional players:

“I think the goal here, especially within a residential setting, is not only to create good soccer players but to create good people. We’re proud of the fact that we’re beginning to sign professional soccer prospects out of the academy but we’re also sending far more kids to college. These are kids sometimes of limited means where the opportunity to go to college can be potentially life changing. I know our partner [Grande Sports Academy Owner] Ron Burks has been instrumental in laying the foundation for that as one of the core values of the academy, and I think that those twin objectives are not only compatible but mutually beneficial for us.”

On where he sees the RSL-AZ Academy in 5-10 years:

“Ideally we’ll have identified every soccer prospect in Utah and Arizona from the age of 12 or 13 and have had them here for five years of growth, development, coaching and skill enhancing. Hopefully we do it in such a way that instead of players that need to go to the minor leagues or train with the first team for a year or two [before playing for RSL], we’re coming down here and saying, ‘We think this guy is better than somebody on our team and we’re going to sign him tomorrow.’”

On what it would mean to have a RSL-AZ graduate emerge with the Claret-and-Cobalt first team:

“I think it’d be huge. I think it’d be the validation of everything we believe in down here and it’d be a validation of all the money we’ve spent down here – and it’s been a significant investment that we’ve made. I think that that’s going to be important not just for a kid or recruiting kids to the academy, but I think it’d be tremendous for our fans to see a truly homegrown player with a local connection, the kind of local boy who grows up in the academy and plays for the first team. I don’t think there is a more powerful image that you can send the Salt Lake community and fan base in terms of us being a long term part of the social fabric.”

On if developing Home Grown players through the Academy is more important to a small market team like RSL than a bigger market team like L.A. or New York:

“Absolutely, absolutely. That has to be the foundation of what we do. We have to be a reflection of our community and we have to play in a way that comports with the values of our community, and I think developing players locally is a big part of that.”

Real Salt Lake-Arizona U-18 midfielder Haeden Turner

He didn’t quite make it into the final draft, but RSL-AZ U-18 player Haeden Turner was a huge help in the reporting of the written story on the academy. The injured midfielder was very gracious with his time on two separate (unplanned) occasions.

A Canadian who came to Casa Grande in August 2011 after spending the previous two years at then-English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers, Turner said he loves the RSL-AZ Academy and really appreciates its emphasis on both education and soccer, something he didn’t really experience while in England.

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. - Real Salt Lake had the final practice of its Casa Grande camp on Sunday, training for a little over 90 minutes ahead of Monday's preseason opener against the Denmark U-20 national team.

Sunday's practice was relatively light, with Claret-and-Cobalt Head Coach Jason Kreis putting his charges through some technical work before giving the team a tactics talk ahead of Monday's match. Expect Kreis to give minutes to plenty of players on Monday, as the technical staff will likely use the match to evaluate as many untested players as possible.

Be sure to follow the @realsaltlake Twitter account for live updates of Monday's game, which will kick off at 11:30 a.m. MT at Grande Sports World. We'll have full postgame coverage of the Claret-and-Cobalt's preseason opener here on the official website.

RSL will head back to Salt Lake City following Monday's game. The team will remain in Utah on Tuesday and Wednesday before departing on Thursday for Irvine, Calif. for the team's second leg of preseason. The Claret-and-Cobalt will train in Irvine from Jan. 31-Feb. 8, when they will return to Salt Lake again before heading back to Arizona for the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup from Feb. 11-24.

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. - Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis gave his first update of RSL's preseason camp after training on Friday, sharing his thoughts on how things have gone in Casa Grande and outlining some of the defensive work the Claret-and-Cobalt have done in Arizona.

RSL will have a double session on Saturday. It should be lots of fun - it poured rain in Casa Grande overnight and continues to do so this morning. The fields are pretty soaked, the players are dressed up in their rain gear and we're all ready for some serious slipping and sliding.

Real Salt Lake began a new chapter in its history on Thursday with the announcement that RSL founder Dave Checketts sold the remainder of his stake in the team to Dell Loy Hansen, making Hansen the sole owner of RSL, Rio Tinto Stadium, and ESPN 700 radio. As I listened to the press conference, I found myself getting a bit emotional, especially as Checketts ("Uncle Dave", as he is affectionately known to fans) was speaking. For him, RSL was a labor of love. I firmly believe that Dave Checketts is the reason RSL survived its infancy. Most businesses that fail do so in their first five years, and there were a couple of times that RSL could have and would have failed if it weren't for Checketts and his sports business acumen. He wasn't the flashiest or richest owner in MLS, but he was the most savvy. In short, Dave Checketts was the right man for the job at the time. Uncle Dave, thank you for believing in all of us.

Likewise, I believe Dell Loy Hansen is the right man for the job at this time. New ownership of a sports franchise is always met with some trepidation, so let me tell you a story about Mr. Hansen that may help put your mind at ease.

It probably won't surprise you to learn that my soccer journalism gig doesn't pay all my bills, and very few of us are fortunate enough to say otherwise. As such, I have a career unrelated to soccer that helps me make ends meet. Ironically, it was my other career that led to my first meaningful conversation with Dell Loy. It was 2010 and I was doing a lot of business with one of the other businesses Dell Loy owns. The CEO of Dell Loy's business invited me to sit with him and Hansen in Hansen's suite at the next RSL game. So I decided to enjoy two hours high on the hog - I called in "sick" to my editor for that game and headed to Hansen's suite.

I had met Dell Loy before but never beyond salutations in the hallways and back rooms of the stadium. This time, as I introduced myself formally, he said "you're the journalist, aren't you? I read your stuff! Grab a plate of food and sit down...I want to talk to you." I was flattered and surprised that I was being read by a team owner. For the next half hour he grilled me on everything RSL and soccer-related. What makes RSL so good? What's the diamond midfield? What makes Jason Kreis a good coach? What does this team need to be better? What did the ref call there? How do we get the fans more involved and engaged?

Since then I've had a couple more experiences like this with Hansen. From them, I feel confident stating a few things now that he is RSL's sole owner:

He is a local who loves Utah and he wants to the team to succeed in Utah in spite of the challenges of being a small market.

He is a visionary man who knows how to grow a business on multiple fronts.

He knows who is customer is. The fans are what make this business tick and he knows that.

He has the resources and is willing to invest them in the team to make sure the product RSL delivers is top-drawer.

He believes in the team management and technical staff.

I'm very excited to see what unfolds in this next chapter of the Real Salt Lake story. The first eight years of RSL gave us many amazing moments, and I really believe there will be even more of them as we move into the future.

A former RSL beat reporter for multiple outlets, Jeremy Horton is a regular contributor to RealSaltLake.com and covers the team for ESPN 700 AM

After a somewhat lengthy offseason hiatus, Kickin' it with Kwame makes its triumphant return with an episode from Casa Grande. Kwame talks to RSL newcomers Cole Grossman and Devon Sandoval in this edition of the show - Don't miss it.

Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil arrived at RSL's preseason camp in Casa Grande, Ariz. late on Tuesday night, joining the team after spending the last week or so in camp with the U.S. U-20 national team in Puebla, Mexico.

Claret-and-Cobalt Head Coach Jason Kreis gave Gil the day off on Wednesday, with the California-native watching his teammates from the sideline in the team's lone practice of the day. The 19-year-old midfielder is expected to start training with RSL on Thursday, when the team will have its second two-a-day session of the preseason.

Unfortunately for RSL, Gil won't be with the team all that long, as he's expected to leave the Claret-and-Cobalt in early-February for a U-20 training camp ahead of the Feb. 18-March 3 CONCACAF U-20 Championships in Puebla. The top four teams in that tournament will qualify for the U-20 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in Turkey from June 21-July 13.

We caught up with Gil towards the end of the day on Wednesday, talking to him about his offseason experiences with the U-20's and his expectations for himself in what could be a very big 2013 season. We'll publish written and video features off of those interviews later in the week.